How do you keep track of your material?

[JSzymczyk 0]

Plastic drawers and plastic totes. I have a small drawer cabinet for threads, wire, tinsel that's organized by size of thread and type of other material. Totes for bucktails, one for foam sheets, drawers for most other things, arranged by type: eyes-beads-cones, dubbing, flash, rubber-silicone leg materials, necks and saddles, feathers, chenilles and body materials, deer hair, on and on. Most hooks in boxes on a shelf, other hooks in drawers, etc.

 

Ain't no way I'm making some database or spreadsheet that I have to keep up on every time I add or use up a material. If I see I am running out of an oft-used material, I write it down on a piece of paper. If I end up duplicating something, I know I will use it eventually, or my wife will give it to someone when I keel over. For instance, you just can't have too much olive thread or grizzly hackle. It's like toilet paper. Buy the good stuff and buy a lot of it.

 

The other day I wanted to tie an orange bucktail, and I thought I had an orange bucktail. I dug through my bucktail box and couldn't find one. So now I know I need to buy an orange bucktail. If I had a spreadsheet, I'd have dug through it to find I had to buy an orange bucktail.

 

It's more fun to dig through a box of bucktails than to dig through a spreadsheet.

[riffleriversteelheadslayer 0]

Plastic drawers and plastic totes. I have a small drawer cabinet for threads, wire, tinsel that's organized by size of thread and type of other material. Totes for bucktails, one for foam sheets, drawers for most other things, arranged by type: eyes-beads-cones, dubbing, flash, rubber-silicone leg materials, necks and saddles, feathers, chenilles and body materials, deer hair, on and on. Most hooks in boxes on a shelf, other hooks in drawers, etc.

 

Ain't no way I'm making some database or spreadsheet that I have to keep up on every time I add or use up a material. If I see I am running out of an oft-used material, I write it down on a piece of paper. If I end up duplicating something, I know I will use it eventually, or my wife will give it to someone when I keel over. For instance, you just can't have too much olive thread or grizzly hackle. It's like toilet paper. Buy the good stuff and buy a lot of it.

 

The other day I wanted to tie an orange bucktail, and I thought I had an orange bucktail. I dug through my bucktail box and couldn't find one. So now I know I need to buy an orange bucktail. If I had a spreadsheet, I'd have dug through it to find I had to buy an orange bucktail.

 

It's more fun to dig through a box of bucktails than to dig through a spreadsheet.

AMEN bro

[dontheo 0]

I have tried the data base thing several times and always lose track or quit making entries. Space is an issue. If you had a big area to tie you could keep everything out in front of you. I have a secretarial desk from my mom that has a fold down top and four drawers. Then there are the cabinets in my study next to it with stackable slide drawer boxes and he top shelf in my master closet with three large bins. In other words, I don't have a clue.

 

Every year I try a new system. Just last week I discovered enough short fine deer hair that fills two of those slide out drawers. I can't get rid of it. And there is something special about going to a shop and finding a piece of hair or hackle that is one of the best you have seen. It's going home with me:).

 

Worse yet, I don't use any synthetics! Maybe I will try the data base again but it would take days to load. And I think I would need a picture of the item.

 

Every once in awhile I will sell off duplicates but then the money goes to PayPal and then it's back on eBay. It's a vicious cycle:)

[FlyTieDad 0]

Well I couldn't stand it much longer so I loaded a spreadsheet with everything I have.

 

I don't have a lot so it only took a couple of evenings.

 

I somehow managed to drag my overly organized into it. Good thing too because when she saw some of my materials she recognized them as craft supplies and I've just expanded my bead supplies by 10X.

 

Now tomorrow at the fly fishing expo I'll know what to buy and what not too.

 

FlyTieDad

[dontheo 0]

Did you use XL or something like that?

 

I am going to try this again, but if I see a pair of turkey wings that are just incredible, I am still buying them:).

[FlyTieDad 0]

Did you use XL or something like that?

 

I am going to try this again, but if I see a pair of turkey wings that are just incredible, I am still buying them:).

 

Yes, excel.

Only 200 lines.

I kept it pretty simple just what I have, size, amount and color.

 

I might track cost later so I know when I find a deal.

 

FlyTieDad

[dontheo 0]

Thanks. There are some old threads you can search. I think all I would add would be quality for hackle. I would love to put a pic next to it too as a dun color can be damn near anything.

 

Thanks

[tidewaterfly 0]

I tried to keep track of my tying supplies several years ago by making a spreadsheet, but my typing sucks & it took way too much time to even go through what I had accumulated. I have even more now. I probably wouldn't have it all listed if I spent the rest of life trying to list it.

 

Like Joel, I keep things in all kinds of containers & can usually find what I need by digging through them. I keep like types of materials together, so that narrows down the digging some. If I don't have a particular color, then I use something else. I've already got more flies now than I'll probably ever need anyway, so anything I tie now is just for the sake of tying. And it only took me 47 years to get to this point!

[dontheo 0]

Tidewaterfly

 

I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes I just start over the season with new flies:). To change things up I am trying to tie more of my flies using all natural material. I am also working on Catskill style flies and am going to start tying more classic wet type trout flies. I am having fun with wood duck.

[DryFlies4Life 0]

I keep all my materials in the bags they came in then tack them to a big cork board. This works becuase all you have to do is look at it to see what you have, however larger items don't always fit and to fit alot of material you need a huge cork board. As for hooks all the bags and boxes go into a drawer where most of the time they will never be found again.

[dogsnfish 0]

Funny this should come up; I have been reorganizing my stuff all day today. I built two 8' benches and put them in the corner of our laundry room. Each has pegboard above it to the ceiling so I hang most of my stuff on that. Today I bought two big plastic container for my pelts because they had been loose in a bucket. Hair I bought goes on the peg board. Capes and such I have had hanging on the peg board, but today found bugs in one of them so tomorrow going to get a few more containers and move the capes into those with some cedar or mothballs.

 

As for keeping track, three or four years ago I took a day and put everything into spreadsheets because I was tired of buying things I already had. I use Excel so it has multiple tabs: Fur - Feathers - Hooks - Threads/tinsels/wires - Other - Tools - Need to buy. It took a day but it has really helped. When I buy stuff I just sit down and enter it. My tying station is right next to the computer, so when I use something up I just enter that. I store it in the cloud (skydrive) so I can look at it on my phone when in a fly shop or wherever and see exactly what is on the "need to buy" list.

[testoner 0]

I use a combination of my iPhone and an Excel spreadsheet on my computer similar to the ones posted here. The spreadsheet simply shows what I have on hand so I can quickly reference the spreadsheet to see what I have when I look at new recipes. If there is something I don't have or I run out, I put it into my iPhone "Notes" app. I keep a page on there for fly tying materials that I need. That way, I always have it with me. Even if I just drop by a fly shop, I can always reference my notes page to see what I "need".

[dontheo 0]

Testoner

 

Thanks exactly what I am going to try. I use an iPad that has the "numbers" program like xcell. I can load pics too. Then I can sync everthing to my iPhone. I think for Mac users you got it.

[Peterjay 0]

I also use plastic boxes. I have one that I love - and wish target still carried the style. It's a stackable set of boxes probably 12X18 or so and about 4" deep. You can stack as many as you want, and the top one you put a "lid" on which has a handle so you can carry it easily. I bought one initially to go to club meetings and added many tiers. Now I use a system like that for my most frequently used stuff:

 

level one - tools/threads/wire/glues etc

Level two foams, markers, tinsels etc

Level three dubbing

You get the idea from there.

 

Wish I had more of those becuase that's as organized as I've ever been. The other stuff is just in various sized plastic boxes (bins I guess is a better term).

 

As others have said, I do buy stuff accidentally that I already have despite being slightly organized... Oh well - Ill have plenty of that stuff then

 

Will, I recently bought some of those stackable boxes at Walmart, though they don't seem to have them all the time. The ones I have are about half the size you described. I put foam on the bottoms and use them as fly boxes for the boat. I'm also on the lookout for bigger ones to use for storing materials - if I find any, I'll give you a holler.

[kurto 0]

Like a lot of you, I have materials in stackable boxes and plastic drawer bins. I have them organized (sort ot) by what wet fly, dry fly, marabou, feathers such as mallard flank, ronze mallard, guinne (sp?) and such are togather etc, etc. Works most of the time. When buying I have a list of items I find needed to tie certain flies I write it down and when I have an order I do it all at once.

Keep refinning until I get it right. That will take a lifetime!